404 File Not Found
by Izzers
Summary: AU Cyberpunk// Link, seventeen years old and living in the Lower Grounds of Hyrule City, finds himself rudely awakened. The bad start to a worse day is only the beginning of a long line of events to solidify his freedom. And save the world. Maybe.
1. Good Morning

_**A/N:**_ After a _long_ hiatus, I decided to come back and fix up this story. And, seriously? This... this needed some serious, serious overhaul. I apologize to everyone that lost interest in this, or that was disappointed and wanted me to continue. I had to go through some... pretty hard stuff last year, and well, it didn't clear up until the start of this summer. Anyway, that's no real excuse, but I'm trying, and I'll try to finish this story. It shouldn't be too much longer, anyway, after I'm done updating/uploading all the new replacement chapters.

**Plot Synopsis:** Link. Seventeen years old. Fugitive. Ex-PLUGGED child of the Gerudo Corporation. Currently residing in the underbelly of Hyrule City, affectionately referred to Lower City. But, as Link soon learns, when the Gerudo Corp. is involved: You can run, but you can't hide.

**Warning:** This is a CYBERPUNK AU (Alternate Universe), heavily inspired by Ocarina of Time, but not a parody/mirror/whatever. By cyberpunk, I am including dark themes, suggestive material (including but not limited to: drug use, horny teenagers, unorthodox violence, excessive cursing, and addiction/dependency). If this bothers you, if you are underaged, there is a button at the top of your screen that stands for **BACK**. I suggest you use it.

**Disclaimer: **This is a non-profit, amateur effort not intended to infringe on the rights of any copyright holder. Characters belong to their respective owners. **  
**

* * *

**Chapter 1** - Good Morning

* * *

He woke up to the sound of shrill screaming and the offensive CLANG of pebbles colliding with the scrap metal over his one window.

"Guh?" the blond mumbled confusedly into his drool soaked pillow, his half naked body tangled within a single, old gray sheet on an ancient and flattened mattress. Just above his head was a poor excuse of a shelf—small rusted metal nailed haphazardly to the wall. Pressed close to the wall on said outcropping rested a small silver device which beeped twice before humming to life, and shot a thin beam of light beside the blonde's head below. The light morphed into the image of a miniature young woman with an hourglass shaped body.

_:: Seven forty one A.M. Rise and shine, Link! ::_ the holographic woman bellowed, the image crackling several times from static and poorly managed surge of electricity. In response, Link's head rose slowly to allow his two blue eyes to peer over the hills of his crumpled synthetic pillow and glare silently at the hologram. Then he rose a little higher, took a deep breath, and blew at the tiny woman. The particles in the air were easily disrupted and he literally blew the image away.

"Rise and shine your face, Navi." The seventeen year old grunted victoriously before burying his face and tangle mess of hair back into his pillow.

Just as Link's ragged breathing eased out, the device on the shelf suddenly began to vibrate violently, sirens wailing and lights flashing wildly. Link shouted in surprise and leapt out of the bed. Or rather, tried and failed to leap while his tangled legs brought him face first to the shambled steel floor. Immediately his bare body broke out into uncontrollable shivers, eliciting several long and incredibly offensive curses from the young man's mouth.

After ripping his legs from the tangled sheet, he managed to stand and readjust his plaid boxers. Huffing with indignation Link walked into the small two by two by six foot stall in the wall beside his bed, and the door hissed closed behind him.

"One-oh-one degrees," his sleep heavy voice croaked. The showerhead responded by blasting a hot stream of water into his face.

Twelve minutes, thirty seven seconds, and one morning ritual later, Link realized he still heard the steady clang of pebbles ramming the slip of metal over his window. Taking his time, Link snapped the buckle of his belt shut and shoveled the rest of his artificial foodstuffs-on-burned-toast into his mouth before shambling across the metal floor. He braced himself as he threw the rusted shutters open, but flinched when a pebble narrowly missed colliding with his head as it soared pass.

"LINK!" a child shrieked as he bounced up and down far below the sad excuse of a hole in the wall. "You awake yet?!" the shrill voice tore into his eardrums worse than the irritating whine of a failing cooling unit ever could. And while Link was comfortable with this almost daily human interaction, he vaguely pondered the possibility of ripping open the kid's skull and installing a Mute-All wireless chip.

"No," the blond replied around the chunk of sustenance still being chewed in his mouth, crumbs spraying from his lips in a rather crude manner. The child stopped bouncing, arms dropped in confusion. Then…

"Shi—_OW_," Link shouted as another barrage of stones flew through his window. The shutters automatically slammed shut as he flung himself backwards, narrowly avoiding his bed. Another two steps and he vaulted over the peeling guard rail that marked the boundary of his half room-above-a-room-with-bed-shower-and-toaster. The ten foot drop jarred his mind awake further than the rocks did, he mentally noted with some disdain.

_:: Taking the ladder is really much safer ::_ echoed a musical voice the moment he adjusted the communicator lodged in his left ear canal. Link merely grumbled a reply incoherently as he paused to kneel down and tighten the laces of his thick combat boots before traversing the treacherous fifteen-feet-and-change of unnamed trash, debris, and wild electrical wiring.

"It'd be _much safer_ if I wasn't squatting in this dump," Link clarified as he made his way to the door. He knocked the toe of his boot twice on the ground before violently kicking the heavy slab of iron in front of him. The piece did not react right away, but after the second kick he could hear the clicks and whirs of the gears in the wall as the system came to life… but only just enough life to give him two feet of space and twelve seconds to squeeze through.

The iron creaked loudly and sparks flew as the solid door slammed shut behind him. :: This is government sanctioned residential property, how dare you imply otherwise :: Navi's musical electronic voice reverberated in his pointed ear. Unsurprisingly, Link did not bother to dignify his portable Navigator with a response. Instead, he faintly debated whether or not her AI was capable of mocking him as he gave himself a moment to overcome the adrenaline that was usually a result of narrowly avoiding certain flattened death-by-front-door. And then he opted to walk—run, _RUN_—in the opposite direction of the bite sized rock hurling nuisance that was his neighbor's demon child.

The synthetic leather jacket, studded belt and old blue-jeans wearing seventeen-year-old soon realized that no, today was not his day.

"Oow! Link, what the _hell?_" a feminine voice hissed from beside him on the dirty concrete ground. He took this moment as a failed opportunity that Fate had offered him—failed because though he was facing the general direction of where the sky should be, all he could see was an unending expanse of metal scaffolding, concrete and steel and carbon that comprised the floor of the Upper City, and the ceiling of the Lower Ground, where the rich afforded to bask in the sunlight.

The sunlight he hadn't seen in most of his seventeen years of life.

"Link? One-two-seven-oh-oh-one," the girl with green hair and greener eyes yelled in his right ear.

He blinked, sighed, and then slurred tiredly: "S'not funny, Saria." The girl merely shrugged and straightened, offering a hand to help him up. He accepted and was standing on his feet within a moment, beating off dust from his pants and peeling what he hoped was a banana peel off the side of his jacket.

Out of the corner of his eye he looked over Saria for the millionth time in his life. She was small, maybe five feet with unnatural hair and eyes, and a body that won't age past thirteen thanks to the numerous mechanical implants in her system shimmering under porcelain skin. She was like the other seventy five percent of the child population down in the Lower Grounds—caught the sickness that, while curable, was debilitating and deformed the human body beyond recognition.

But deformation was also treatable—all you needed was to become less than human, and more than machine. A sadness he thought he had gotten over was quietly pushed to the back of his mind as he jammed his fists into his pockets.

_:: Saria, hello! ::_ the holographic image of a woman floating on Link's shoulder echoed in the alley. The green haired girl's eyes widened as a smile erupted on her dimpled face.

"You fixed her! She's back online?" Saria asked cheerfully, her previous irritation at his clumsiness clearly forgotten. Link shrugged and nodded, not quite trusting his voice to _not_ crack and make him sound like a complete idiot just yet, though he couldn't help but smile at her cheer and consequent hops of joy.

His boots scuffed the ground a few times as he stared expectantly at his friend. Thankfully, Navi seemed to read his mind and voiced the unsaid question for him.

_:: So what brings you here, Saria? ::_

The hopping stopped as Saria halted her unsteady dance to glance back at Link, recognition in her eyes as she remembered what she probably forgot in the excitement.

Her lower jaw slid right, then left, a mechanical click echoing quietly in the background as she scratched the side of her head with perfectly manicured green nails. The sound made him uncomfortable, and Link made the effort to stop himself from taking an instinctive step backwards. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he quietly remembered that those perfect nails held some of the most lethal stealth weaponry he could recall offhandedly.

"Oh!" she gasped as she inadvertently interrupted his thoughts, the artificial light sparkling behind her eyes, "Old man Cyprus wanted to see you."

_Wonderful,_ Link thought cynically, though had enough restraint to hide the emotion from his expression. He wanted to say _Cyrpus can kiss my behind,_ say _Cyprus can see the inside of a Dodongo,_ say _Cyprus can croak with the help of my fists._

Instead, he said: "Let's go," and arched his elbow outwards, with his hands still in his pockets, to give Saria a place to sling her arm through. She happily accepted the invitation and they hastened to get to the old man's shack without bumping into any other people along the way.


	2. Boosts

_**A/N:**_ After a _long_ hiatus, I decided to come back and fix up this story. And, seriously? This... this needed some serious, serious overhaul. I apologize to everyone that lost interest in this, or that was disappointed and wanted me to continue. I had to go through some... pretty hard stuff last year, and well, it didn't clear up until the start of this summer. Anyway, that's no real excuse, but I'm trying, and I'll try to finish this story. It shouldn't be too much longer, anyway, after I'm done updating/uploading all the new replacement chapters.

**Warning:** This is a CYBERPUNK AU (Alternate Universe), heavily inspired by Ocarina of Time, but not a parody/mirror/whatever. By cyberpunk, I am including dark themes, suggestive material (including but not limited to: drug use, horny teenagers, unorthodox violence, excessive cursing, and addiction/dependency). If this bothers you, if you are underaged, there is a button at the top of your screen that stands for **BACK**. I suggest you use it.

**Disclaimer: **This is a non-profit, amateur effort not intended to infringe on the rights of any copyright holder. Characters belong to their respective owners.

* * *

**Chapter 2 - **Boosts

* * *

"Boosts," Link echoed incredulously, his patience short and his frustration high. He stood in a small storage compartment of an abandoned train that had run the old rail lines before the city switched to magnetic power years ago. In front of him stood Cyprus, a wiry tanned man with long bony fingers that reminded Link of the bare branches of trees he saw in some old pixelgraphs once upon a time.

Except those trees looked dry, whereas this guy's skin was so yellow he resembled the poisonous weeds of Basement Level Forty Seven, and his bald head produced enough oil to grease a rusted over steam-powered machine. Not to mention the man's face was stuck in a pinched expression, as if he perpetually suffered from consuming something far too sour for his body to handle. _Yeah,_ Link mused, _Cyprus fit the name all right._

"That's right ol' buddy ol' pal o' mine. Boosts! The numba one wanted piece on the market. It's what everyone wants and it's what we got, and what we got is you, our numero uno transporter t'get the goods to the location destination, man. You dig?"

Link shrugged noncommittally. "Don't have much of a choice, do I?" He cut off Cyprus' inevitable reply by tossing the five packs of capsules none-too-delicately into a protective black Security Box designed by Link himself.

"This mind burn business is going to get you killed someday, Cyprus." He added as an afterthought while tossing the box into a pack and slung it over his shoulder. Then he headed out past the broken metal doors held open by a crowbar.

"Hold on Link, my man, hold on," Cyprus called out after him, his body hanging through a side window that was missing its glass pane. Link continued to walk. "You were one o' them kids that were _plugged in_, right?"

Those words stopped Link in his tracks. He didn't chance turning back yet, what with his emotions bubbling under the surface.

"Yea man, yea. I thought it was a joke, but you know, I hadda ask."

_:: Link, breathe ::_ Navi instructed directly into the nerves that processed his hearing.

And Link did breathe, slow and deep, as he turned around and said simply, "Drop it, Cyprus." His voice was steady, almost bored, though he was using most of his energy to control his temper. Cyprus' thin eyebrows arched upwards as his thin lips pressed together in a half smile.

Then he spoke again with a wave of his skinny hand: "Hey man, hey. No harm, no foul. Peace, man. Your secret is your man Cyprus' secret, too. Cool, cool. But you know, you oughtta wonder, who knew before your buddy pal here?"

"What?"

"Hey man, c'mon. Go deliver the cream to the ice-cream man, then when you get back we can have this little chat in depth, mano-a-mano. Cool?" When Link didn't reply, the man clapped his hands together and laughed, though it sounded more like a high pitched squeal.

"Groovy, man." Cyprus pulled back and disappeared into the train car, completely out of Link's sight.

The teenager sighed and moved back to his original course of direction. Which was easier said than done, since he was in the center of one of the oldest train yards in the Lower Grounds. These trains were decommissioned, though he felt the word dead was a bit more accurate. The only lights in the area were emitted from dying LED lamps, ones that everything in a sickly green glow, and hung suspended from the sides of the broken down metal compartments and casting. He had to be careful—one slip and he'd likely land impaled on a loose piece of rebar.

_:: There is something going on in Alpha Network's frequency ::_ Navi whispered to him from the holographic image standing on his shoulder. Though he knew it was impossible, he could've sworn he felt her projected hands grab hold of his ear. The feeling bugged him, like an itch he couldn't scratch. And as much as he wanted to care about what she was saying, he suddenly noticed the two huge half android half human guides—Cyprus' guard dogs—flank him as he continued his trek to the exit.

_:: Link, listen! ::_ she hissed, but his only reply was to scratch the goddamn itch, and swatted her with an open hand. She yelled as her holographic image shattered into thousands of glittery specs of light.

It would take her at least twenty minutes to regenerate the energy to cast another hologram, Link knew. Still, he had more things to worry about than the emotional protocol of his Navi bugging out to preprogrammed paranoia and mistranslated radio frequencies. For one, he needed to know who'd started the rumors, and two, how'd they discovered the truth. All his identi-files were either erased from the System, or stored in air tight, offline containers—both actions which he had done himself nearly four years ago. So hell, no one should've known. No one except…

No. He wouldn't go there.

Link slowly climbed over a particularly large piece of crashed train, the distraction causing him to lag a bit behind the guides—_dogs_—that seemed to have passed him on the way. Not that it mattered much who was in front or who was behind since they couldn't think for themselves, metal or not. And seeing as how he was carrying some pretty expensive merchandise, they couldn't exactly lay a hand on him either.

Not that they'd be able to if he wasn't protected by this brain burning shit, but still. He could at least admit to himself that no, he did not enjoy kicking the crap out of others, but he definitely did not sit around and let others kick the crap out of _him_, either.

_SLAM_ went the boundary doors as the solid steel shut behind him, locking in the train yard and locking him, as well as the rest of Lower Grounds, out. He stared at the wall, and then looked out over the broken, sad excuse of a neighborhood in front of him. Buildings older than the trains in the yard he just left. Streets grimy and covered in a muck that could only be described as condensed smog. He faintly wondered how Saria and the other perma-children could stand working for Cyprus.

The tip of his boot connected with a can as he walked down the center of the road. Sure, he knew Cyprus was far better than the jobs down in the Red Light District, but it was still modern slavery no matter how you looked at it. And he'd been looking at it from _every_ angle for most of his free life. Of course, that wasn't really saying much since said life began only four years ago. But that was neither here nor there, and he refused to continue that line of thought.

_:: Link!::_ the shrill voice of his pissed off Navi hissed directly into his system. _:: Listen! ::_

He flinched, but kept on walking.

_:: There is something strange on Alpha Network's Frequency ::_

"_There is something strange on Alpha Network's Frequency,_" he mimicked in a high-pitched whine, irritation evident in his voice but _not_ his expression. "I _know_ that. But can you tell me if it isn't a glitch again?"

At the silence on Navi's end, he sighed. "I'm sorry. It's not your fault. I didn't get all the parts I needed to repair you, Nav. Tomorrow I'll replace your receivers… Hell, if you're extra nice and I'm extra lucky, I'll be able to update your RAM."

There was silence as he climbed through what had to be the collapsed remains of a roller rink when Navi crackled _:: Really? ::_

The breath Link didn't know he was holding escaped him in a relieved halfhearted chuckle.

"Really," he replied, and readjusted the pack slung around his shoulders as he kicked aside the debris in front of the exit.


	3. Offline

_**A/N:**_ After a _long_ hiatus, I decided to come back and fix up this story. And, seriously? This... this needed some serious, serious overhaul. I apologize to everyone that lost interest in this, or that was disappointed and wanted me to continue. I had to go through some... pretty hard stuff last year, and well, it didn't clear up until the start of this summer. Anyway, that's no real excuse, but I'm trying, and I'll try to finish this story. It shouldn't be too much longer, anyway, after I'm done updating/uploading all the new replacement chapters.

**Warning:** This is a CYBERPUNK AU (Alternate Universe), heavily inspired by Ocarina of Time, but not a parody/mirror/whatever. By cyberpunk, I am including dark themes, suggestive material (including but not limited to: drug use, horny teenagers, unorthodox violence, excessive cursing, and addiction/dependency). If this bothers you, if you are under-aged, there is a button at the top of your screen that stands for **BACK**. I suggest you use it.

**Disclaimer: **This is a non-profit, amateur effort not intended to infringe on the rights of any copyright holder. Characters belong to their respective owners.

* * *

**Chapter 3 -** Offline

* * *

The ice-cream shop didn't really sell ice-cream. Sure, the flavors available varied from strawberry to vanilla to mint chocolate chip and coffee, but the only real ingredients used were the copious amounts of crystallized sugar mixed into every batch. Everything else was most assuredly chemicals, frosted syrups, artificial flavoring and coloring.

Link's personal favorite was the vanilla, but he only ever had any of it on the day after a fresh batch was made. One day old was perfect as far as he was concerned, but any older and it began to taste like liquefied cardboard. So, of course, when the ice-cream man offered him a free serving as a tip for the timely delivery, Link had to decline.

Plus, the guy was definitely unpleasant to look at. His right arm was little more than an ancient metal prosthetic, reminiscent of the steampunk fad years ago. Metal didn't stop there though, and Link estimated that it reached close to seventy five percent of his body, including half his face.

"So…" Link broke the silence as he slipped into the back room behind the ice-cream man and narrowly avoided colliding with a long medical chair. "Why is Cyprus asking more for these than the others I've brought last month?"

"They're wips," the ice-cream man replied as he roughly shoved down the guy in the chair, and then snapped the straps around the wrists and ankles tighter.

"Whips?"

"No, wips. Y'know, W I P—work in progresses—as opposed to reel, R E L—completed releases." He cracked open the Security Box and pulled one capsule out.

"Shouldn't that mean they cost less?"

"Course not. Wips are bugged. Glitched. Once in, they mess with y'wiring, fry the processes implanted in y'nervous system, and maybe even do some real physical melt. So it ain't really a brain burn, as shit's melting." He popped the capsule open and jammed the end into the port hole located in the back of the neck of the guy on the chair, as if proving a point. Almost immediately, the man began to struggle against the straps, his body convulsing and frothing at the mouth.

Link took a step back. "That's…"

"Fucked up? Yeah, but it's the greatest high y'ever know."

"You mean won't know," Link interjected as he eyed the guy in the chair and schooled his expression carefully neutral. "I'm not into the mind altering devices. Now… the payment?"

"Sure," the ice-cream man chuckled disbelievingly as he moved across the office. Within seconds, a small sphere was thrust under Link's nose and dropped into his open hands. "There be the designated chips and rupees inside. Do what you will with 'em, pretty boy." The metal man swung open the door and ushered Link back through the ice-cream shop. It took until Link passed the frozen mud-called-chocolate for the words to sink in.

"Hold on," Link jerked from the man's grip, stopping right at the front doors. "Shouldn't you be concerned—?"

"That y'run off?" He laughed, the sound a mixture of a croak and a screech of metal on metal. In the blink of a human eye, the ice-cream man's metal hand shot forward and lifted Link up by his throat, shaking his body around like a rag doll. Link gasped, eyes bulged, as his hands came up to fight uselessly against the machine. The doors behind him hissed open, and the next thing Link knew, he was flying through the air. His back crashed into the building across the street.

The ice-cream man watched Link's body peel off the ruined side and fall face-first in a ragged heap on the ground, and then yelled out: "Kid, Cyprus' got more things to worry about." The ice-cream man took a step back and the doors to the artificial ice-cream shop shut with a smooth click, the front sign glowing from CLOSED to OPEN.

"Damn," Link coughed as he slowly eased himself back on his haunches, grimacing at the layers of liquid garbage on his clothes.

"Navi," he croaked, and hooked a finger under the collar of his shirt as he tenderly rubbed his neck. He could already feel the bruises taking shape under the skin of his throat. _"Nav?"_

_:: No one is answering. Cyprus is offline ::_

_Fuck me,_ Link thought angrily as he jumped up and took off down the road.

_:: Pace yourself ::_ Navi warned as he adjusted his pack, tightening the strap closer to his body.

"Keep trying," he gritted in reply.

He didn't have to run far to see the tower of smoke curling from where the train yard was. But he kept going anyway, eventually hitting the security walls. The front entrance was a mess, the two feet of steel ripped apart like paper. The state of the yard made the ruins they usually were look like a field of cotton candy in comparison. Fire roared from the pile of trains that Cyprus' office consisted of. Link had no doubt in his mind that his employer was dead.

The smoke was getting to him. His eyes stung with irritation and his lungs rioted against the added pollution. Link took a step back, then another, and another, until he found himself running down towards the neighborhood he called home. In his confusion, he forgot to pay attention to where he was stepping, and stumbled over a ball of corded wires. His arms windmilled as he failed to regain his balance. The next thing he saw was the individual grains of a boarded up window before he flew _through_ it, rolled, and then came to a stop in the center of the LonLon Bar.

Apparently no one noticed—but if they did, then they definitely did not care enough to cease nursing their drinks and see if he was alright. It took a moment for Link to come back to his senses, but once he did he picked himself off the floor and brushed the dust from his clothes. It occurred to him that he'd probably need a change of clothes really soon because _goddesses damn it Cyprus is dead._

Then he was out of the bar and walking back to his crap government sanctioned residential building to take a shower, get a change of clothes, and maybe level his head and figure out what the fuck was going on and what he could possibly do about it. But as he marched down the street, everything seemed a whole lot more empty than usual. In fact, the stupid kids that normally enjoyed throwing rocks at everything that moved—mainly him—were nowhere to be found.

"Nav, get Saria." He whispered hoarsely as he wiped his face with the back of his hand. His hand came back smeared red, and he sighed—he didn't have the energy to pretend to be surprised.

_:: No response ::_ Navi replied as her holographic image took a seat on his shoulder. He coughed. He coughed again, and slammed his fist into the metal door of his house. It screeched open, giving him a little more room and a bit more time for him to slip through.

Link climbed up the ladder. "Again," he growled.

_:: No response ::_

"_Again!_" He shouted as he ripped the navigator off his wrist and tossed it onto his bed. A small compartment hissed open at the foot of his bed, to which he ripped his clothes off and threw them inside.

_:: No response ::_

Link breathed, turned, and punched the metal grating by the window. When he pulled his fist back, a clear dent was left in the alloy. Across the room, the door to the shower stall hissed open and he stumbled five feet to fall inside.

"One-oh-one," he whispered. The water ran.


	4. Senece Dot Ee Ecks Ee

_**A/N:**_ After a _long_ hiatus, I decided to come back and fix up this story. And, seriously? This... this needed some serious, serious overhaul. I apologize to everyone that lost interest in this, or that was disappointed and wanted me to continue. I had to go through some... pretty hard stuff last year, and well, it didn't clear up until the start of this summer. Anyway, that's no real excuse, but I'm trying, and I'll try to finish this story. It shouldn't be too much longer, anyway, after I'm done updating/uploading all the new replacement chapters.

**Warning:** This is a CYBERPUNK AU (Alternate Universe), heavily inspired by Ocarina of Time, but not a parody/mirror/whatever. By cyberpunk, I am including dark themes, suggestive material (including but not limited to: drug use, horny teenagers, unorthodox violence, excessive cursing, and addiction/dependency). If this bothers you, if you are under-aged, there is a button at the top of your screen that stands for **BACK**. I suggest you use it.

**Disclaimer: **This is a non-profit, amateur effort not intended to infringe on the rights of any copyright holder. Characters belong to their respective owners.

* * *

**Chapter 4 -** Seneca Dot Ee Ecks Ee

* * *

Two things felt off after Link stepped out of the two by two by six shower stall. The first was that the metal cover for the hole-in-the-wall-for-a-window was completely eradicated. The temperature of the building had dropped considerably, and he definitely felt it. However, the second issue was more worrisome—his nose picked up on the subtle scent of jasmine in the air. A fragrant so expensive that he doubted anyone in any of the multiple levels of the Lower Grounds had enough rupees in their life savings to purchase even a minuscule amount. He needed to investigate.

Link took two steps forward. Stopped. Sniffed the air. His ears twitched as he picked up the slight _CLICK_ too late from above and behind. The jasmine smell was definitely stronger, he decided. _BANG!_ Pain exploded outward from the center of his back as he flew through the air. His midsection collided with the guard rail.

"Oof!" His hands slipped, he toppled over the side, and he landed with a heavy thump ten feet below. Slowly pulling himself up, he croaked: "Navi. Unlock box four four seven oh—"

A hand yanked his head back by the hair and dragged him over the debris covered floor. He struggled, cursing as his hands dug through his pockets and whipped out a handle. A slight squeeze triggered the device, the end extended to a short but sharp bladed edge. He whipped his hand back and slashed at the fist buried in his hair. A feminine yelp rang in his ears. The pressure released, his head dropped to the floor, and the modular blade device flew out of his hands.

_:: Pass code ::_ Navi beeped.

"Seven seven six one five nine four three," he hissed as he forced himself to stand, keeping a careful eye on the masked woman clothed in a full-body synthetic suit. She stood about five feet away from him, arms out at her sides, body lithe and ready to attack. He instantly recognized the stance, the synthetic body modification suit, and the resulting side affect of blood red pupils.

He breathed. _Fuck me,_ he sighed mentally as he realized he left the Navigator on the goddamn bed, which meant he had to incapacitate the woman long enough to get up there and retrieve it.

Link realized his options were exceedingly low and decided on his course of action before he took the time to rethink the repercussions. He breathed deeply and switched on the old combat modification device implanted in his skull, **Level One**. His ribs vibrated as a small metal unit embedded under his left lung released chemically altered adrenaline directly into his system, forcing his senses to heighten and raised reaction time. The fluid boiled in his veins, as though a fire burned him from the inside out.

"I don't like hitting women," he said conversationally, his voice hoarse and harsh in the still air. His mind ran through lists of processes, system codes, errors and bug fixes. He pushed down his emotions and focused on what was in front of him.

In the blink of an eye he nimbly dodged a punch to the face, hooked his arm around her body and used the momentum to barrel her through the wall behind him. Before she hit the ground he leapt halfway up the ladder and grabbed hold of the guard rail. He lunged for his bed, and his fist closed around Navi just as a hand yanked him down backwards by the ankle.

Link's head bounced off the metal grating. Stars exploded in front of his eyes. He tasted copper as his body went airborne off the edge, again. He blacked out for only a second, but in that time she managed to pin him down and wrap her hands around his throat. His blue eyes met her red ones, and suddenly he lost the desire to keep fighting.

Consciousness faded out.

_:: Link! ::_ Navi beeped wildly._ :: Emergency Action Engaged ::_

He gasped—

"_AAAAAGH!_"

She screamed. He screamed. Electricity rocketed through his limbs and nearly tore his insides apart. The woman's grip ripped from his throat as her body jerked backwards violently and fell to the floor. He gasped, and then sucked air into his lungs greedily as he registered the smoke floating away from the woman's synthetic suit… and from his freshly cleaned jacket as well.

"…Nav? What?" he croaked, his voice barely above a whisper.

_:: Cellular level bio-shock static charge to restart core systems ::_ she replied _:: Set to twenty five percent efficiency to prevent permanent damage ::_

Link sighed, thankful for the emotion protocols he installed into the device. The bio-shock feature was a charge that, at 100% efficiency, would bring him back from the brink. But because of the closed designs, it would effectively kill anyone and everyone else that happened to be too close to him at the time of activation. Logic would not dictate the lesser dosage over the maximum, yet the Emotional _bypass_ won out, which was proof that his 'Bug Fixes' were a complete success.

Gently, _gently,_ he picked himself off the floor and leaned forward, his nervous system on the fritz and his muscles trembling near out of control. In one hand, a panel in the side of Navi flipped open and a long needle extended out. With his other hand, he grabbed the woman's injured wrist, thumbing apart the torn material, and jammed the device into her skin. Her body stilled.

_:: Admin Pass Code? ::_

"Run Keylogger."

_:: Access Granted ::_

He eased himself to a semi comfortable seated position.

_:: Command? ::_

"Run Program "

_:: Program Run ::_

_:: Command? ::_

"Locate Gerudo Protocol."

_:: Query Found ::_

"Run Trojan."

_:: Level? ::_

Link allowed his stare to roam over the rest of her body before snapping back to her glazed eyes watching him.

"Level Four—Program Source Rewrite."

She affected him, he realized, and it was beyond his capacity to understand just why he couldn't pull his gaze away as her eyes rolled back in their sockets. He swallowed.

_:: Error—Assassin Protocol Write-Protected ::_

_:: Command? ::_

"Delete."

_:: Verification Required ::_

"Ehl eye enn kay. Oh four two one eight six. Delete."

_:: Verification confirmed. Deleting ::_

_:: Delete Successful ::_

_:: Rewrite Successful ::_

Link let out a shaky breath.

_:: Command? ::_

"Uninstall Trojan."

_:: Trojan Removed ::_

"Set Program—"

She gasped, her back arched off the floor. It distracted him. Link leaned down.

"Stop moving," he whispered.

She froze.

_:: Command? ::_

"Set Program—Standby Mode."

_:: Standby Mode Complete. Good Night ::_

It was with some interest that Link watched her eyes shoot open, the red color drain away to a light blue-gray, and then slide closed again. He removed Navi from the girl's wrist and frowned at the steady trail of blood leaking from the wound he inflicted earlier. Link once again leaned down, tossed her now-limp body over his shoulder, and somehow managed to maneuver the both of them back up the ladder.

Once steady on the upper level, however, he casually dropped her on the bed and set about bandaging her wrist because _goddesses damn it_ the blood was pissing him off and he didn't know why. As he realized the danger was over for the time being, his emotions hit him full force. The girl—_woman_—in front of him couldn't be much younger than he, but the suit was in his way and effectively skewed his ability to guess her age correctly.

The teen glanced down at her, watching her chest rise and fall in steady, if quiet breathing. It wasn't that he didn't recognize the situation for what it was, because he did. He didn't want to face it, but now that it was literally right in his face, what could he do? The Gerudo Corporation. They owned everything and ran everything and they couldn't let one person go. One. Person.

Hell, it wasn't even like he got off scot-free—_Mom's dead. Not your fault. Don't think it—_but even so, here they were. Dumped a goddamn Sheikah in his home to either bring him back or remove him.

Stupid. Stupid move. He's the one who broke the code. Sure, this one was advanced. What did they think; just because he was offline and hiding he couldn't keep improving his security?

Yeah. Yeah. That's exactly what happened.

He breathed, stood, walked over to the far wall, kicked the side, and waited for the toilet device to slide out of its locked panel. Two beeps sounded, his stomach rolled as the effects of the adrenaline wore out, and he retched up the chemicals into the metal bowl. It flushed automatically while a small nozzle exited the wall above the panel and squirted some artificial odor killing spray into the air. Link gagged again and kicked the bowl back into its slot. The panel beeped, locking shut.

The teen grunted in pain as he systematically peeled off his blood stained, sweat soaked, ripped-up clothes off his body, not entirely caring about the fact that there was a passed out woman on his bed, and then jumped into the shower. _Again._


	5. Boned

_**A/N:**_ After a _long_ hiatus, I decided to come back and fix up this story. And, seriously? This... this needed some serious, serious overhaul. I apologize to everyone that lost interest in this, or that was disappointed and wanted me to continue. I had to go through some... pretty hard stuff last year, and well, it didn't clear up until the start of this summer. Anyway, that's no real excuse, but I'm trying, and I'll try to finish this story. It shouldn't be too much longer, anyway, after I'm done updating/uploading all the new replacement chapters.

**Warning:** This is a CYBERPUNK AU (Alternate Universe), heavily inspired by Ocarina of Time, but not a parody/mirror/whatever. By cyberpunk, I am including dark themes, suggestive material (including but not limited to: drug use, horny teenagers, unorthodox violence, excessive cursing, and addiction/dependency). If this bothers you, if you are under-aged, there is a button at the top of your screen that stands for **BACK**. I suggest you use it.

**Disclaimer: **This is a non-profit, amateur effort not intended to infringe on the rights of any copyright holder. Characters belong to their respective owners.

* * *

**Chapter 5 -** Boned

* * *

It didn't apply to him. Or, at least, that's what Link kept telling himself as he walked past the beautiful girl. Her mask was down, her hair was dirty blond, her face was better to look at than her body—which said quite a bit, because that body was _amazing_—and he didn't know how to deal with that. So, he did what he did best in situations like this—ignore it.

"I'm Zelda," she said from up top while he spent the last five minutes browsing through the debris, looking for his accidentally discarded modular shiv.

"I know," he replied though he kept his eyes to the floor. After another fruitless search, he sighed. "Four oh four."

_Beep. Beep_.

His head snapped to the left as his pointed ears picked up on the sound and finally saw it. A small handle with the blade retracted rested under a pile of dead cables in the far corner. Link strode over and quickly plucked it from the ground, sliding it back into the secured strap against his left leg.

Now that he had what he was looking for, however, Link couldn't ignore her anymore. Which was more than a little irritating for him as the program should have knocked her out for more than hour, but she was up in a little over twenty minutes, or just before his third shower ended.

"The missing heir to the throne," he said as he turned to see her staring down at him, blue-gray eyes slightly widened.

"How—"

"No one knows you're missing yet, of course," he interrupted. It was difficult to keep his expression passive, but he managed it pretty well as he climbed the ladder and gently pushed her aside. Navi rested on the rusted shelf above his bed, her holographic image seated calmly beside the device. Despite himself, a corner of his mouth twitched up in a skewed half smile.

_:: Case file two six seven oh dash five five five five. Classified ::_ Navi announced.

Link felt, rather than saw, Zelda flinch. Seemed they hit a nerve. He took a deep breath as he reattached the Navigator to his wrist, waited for the hologram to dissipate, and then faced Zelda.

"Get out," said Link softly.

"You're in danger," she replied, eyes narrowed.

Link shrugged and leaned back slightly as he crossed his arms over his chest, expression calm. Her stare wavered.

"I can help," she insisted.

He shrugged, again, then slowly pointed to the window with a small smile on his face.

"Out."

A slew of unidentifiable emotions passed through her eyes before she shut her agape lips and leapt out the window. An uncomfortable silence settled over him as he quietly ran through his options. It was possible, if he acted quickly, to obtain transport out of the city and hide out until he could get his bearings straight.

"Contact Mido," he murmured as he shrugged on his thrice-cleaned synthetic leather jacket.

_:: No response ::_ was the reply. Link frowned as he jumped down from his platform and made for the door.

"Contact Azazel."

_:: No response ::_ He heard again. Outside, he shoved his hands into his pockets while he picked up the pace.

"Navi," he hissed, faintly remembering to keep the panic from his voice. "Is there anyone left here?"

_:: Scanning life forms — section oh one oh ::_

He walked—no, _ran_—deeper into his neighborhood. The total lack of chatter and the noise of the daily workings of people rang in his sensitive ears. The hum of electricity and unfocused static buzzed louder than usual, as if making up for the oppressive silence. A few more feet and Link stopped in front of the irritating demon-child's home—the very same kid who woke him up every morning with screaming and rocks.

_:: Link! ::_ Navi beeped suddenly, startling him.

"Results?" he asked, though he wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer.

_:: Residential section oh one oh abandoned ::_

That was definitely the last thing he wanted to hear. Guilt suddenly shook him to the core, momentarily knocking him off balance. His vision swayed, and so did he. _Get a grip,_ he cursed at himself and swallowed down the painful emotions. The wheels of his mind began to turn, an insane plan to storm the Gerudo Corp. complex and rescue his adoptive family already beginning to form despite the best efforts of his common sense.

So swept up was he in his self pity that Link missed the movement behind him. Before he could register what happened, his face pressed up against a metal wall, pinned.

He thought about struggling, but the rusted metal already bit hard enough into his skin without any excess movement.

"Fuck," he sighed.

"Truce," a feminine voice murmured almost mechanically behind him. "Your personnel files outline a self involved hero personality complex—"

"Zelda?" he grunted, suddenly very aware of their proximity and silently thankful he was facing the wall instead of having his back to it, or else he imagined he would be at the receiving end of an embarrassing ass kicking. He shifted slightly, uncomfortable, and vaguely realized she was still talking.

"…virus in the system to infect others and persuade them into obeying his every command. Someone has to stop him. You're the only one who's escaped and managed to stay hidden for—"

"Please remove your hands from my body," he interjected hoarsely, jaws clenched.

"Need to be sure you won't try anything," she replied as her grip considerably tightened on his wrists. Yeah, he was really in trouble, and not in the _my-life-is-in-danger_ kind of way.

_I'm going to hell,_ he realized.

Apparently oblivious to his thoughts, she continued: "…everyone, everything, life as we know it is in danger."

Sure, to him she sounded a little crazy and way too idealistic. But the longer he thought about it, and he really focused on it because he had to focus on _something else,_ Link realized belatedly that she was right. He knew the mind of the man running Gerudo Corp, knew the security systems inside and out, knew how every process and program and system ran. Or, he knew how they worked roughly four years ago.

"A lot changes in four years," he muttered dejectedly. At his response, her hands finally, _finally,_ released him, and he thanked the goddesses when she stepped away.

"Is that a yes?" she asked.

"Yeah," he grit out, breathing deeply. Taking a moment to calm down, Link filed away his unexpected hormonal reactions in a dark place at the back of his mind, to be dealt with later. Then he sighed, and slowly turned around to face her.

"So," he said lightly, "Where do we go from here?"

"We need to find a safe location to discuss things further. I don't trust this place." She gave him a pointed look, her hands hanging uselessly at her sides.

He sighed. "All right, I know a place."


	6. Ballad of the Windfish

_**A/N:**_ After a _long_ hiatus, I decided to come back and fix up this story. And, seriously? This... this needed some serious, serious overhaul. I apologize to everyone that lost interest in this, or that was disappointed and wanted me to continue. I had to go through some... pretty hard stuff last year, and well, it didn't clear up until the start of this summer. Anyway, that's no real excuse, but I'm trying, and I'll try to finish this story. It shouldn't be too much longer, anyway, after I'm done updating/uploading all the new replacement chapters.

**Warning:** This is a CYBERPUNK AU (Alternate Universe), heavily inspired by Ocarina of Time, but not a parody/mirror/whatever. By cyberpunk, I am including dark themes, suggestive material (including but not limited to: drug use, horny teenagers, unorthodox violence, excessive cursing, and addiction/dependency). If this bothers you, if you are under-aged, there is a button at the top of your screen that stands for **BACK**. I suggest you use it.

**Disclaimer: **This is a non-profit, amateur effort not intended to infringe on the rights of any copyright holder. Characters belong to their respective owners.

* * *

**Chapter 6 -** Ballad of the Windfish

* * *

"Are you sure this is safe?"

Link continued his hurried pace into the decrepit tunnel entrance, ignoring Zelda's question. As he stepped over a fallen pillar into the inky black darkness, he raised his left hand and aimed the navigator forward.

"Light please, Navi."

A beam of light washed out in a cone away from him, shedding a soft pale glow on the path Link already knew by heart. Of course, there was no way he would admit that the action was solely for her benefit—though if she tripped and fell and died, he did not want to be the one to clean _that_ up. Every step echoed in the high ceilinged tunnel, and he listened to the sounds of running water inside the walls. Behind him, he heard her pick up the pace and eventually join his side. From the corner of his eye, he noticed her fists clenched tight.

"Nervous?" Link asked, not sparing her a glance.

"Impatient," she replied in her soft voice.

A series of irritated replies came to mind—if she was impatient, then what the hell was he? He owed Saria more than his life and look what happened—but he let it go and shrugged instead. They settled into an awkward silence. The end of the tunnel approached just around the next bend when she stopped, a hand on his arm to draw his attention.

"I tried to kill you, why are you listening to me?"

And there was the question he didn't want to answer. So, the teen flashed Zelda an incredulous look, shrugged off her hand, and kept walking.

"What choice do I have?" he asked, more to himself than to her.

Before she could catch up with him, Link turned the corner and exited the tunnel. He breathed and nimbly worked his way up the front gates, carefully maneuvering over the top and jumping down onto black asphalt. His boots clicked in the gloomy poorly-lit area, echoing hollowly in the stale air. Massive metal structures rose out of the shadows as he neared and swept Navi's light over the grounds.

"Goddess…" Zelda breathed beside him. He frowned as he realized, to his utter dismay, that he didn't hear her jump the gate. _Damn Sheikah,_ he thought, as she asked: "Where are we?"

"Windfish Amusement Park. Officially shut down twenty years ago," he replied. "I took out the main circuitry responsible for the security system, then destroyed the individual wiring connecting all the cameras."

Navi's beam rose up slowly, and shed light over an abandoned carousel, several seats still intact though many more lay broken. Rust tainted every inch, covering the exposed metals underneath a dry, dirty red layer. Nothing actually worked anymore, he knew, but nevertheless it was his idea of safe.

"Isn't this park labeled a red zone?"

"Rumors." He shrugged. "As long as you know the layout and don't do anything… _stupid,_ then it's safe." They walked further down, careful of avoiding certain obstacles—like the faded blue bench he nearly cracked his hip into, lying on its side blocking half the road.

"How did you find this place?" she questioned a little too eagerly as they passed the starting gate to a large roller coaster whose rails were left, mostly, in one piece.

Link fought the urge to tell her the story of how he escaped and fled to the shadows of the park, hid and bled and suffered for _months_ before a particularly cute green haired green eyed _seventy-five-percent-machine_ girl patched him up and saved him from losing himself. Oh, he wanted to blurt it all out, all right.

"Stroke of luck. Or genius." He said instead. "Or both."

At her silence, he chanced a quick glance in her direction and saw that she was busy examining the ground.

He frowned. "I thought you were impatient."

"I was…" she murmured. "Shine some light here." Confused, he did as she asked and swung Navi around to focus the beam at the floor. Once done, however, he immediately recognized the fresh black marks on the ground before Zelda did.

"Link, what—?"

The teen cut her off as he grabbed her hand and then raced off down the road. In the distance, his sensitive hearing picked up on the rumbling and thunderous roar of numerous, fast approaching engines. And though Zelda kept up with him, there was no way in hell they could outrun the owners of that sound.

Link turned sharply to the right, swinging his companion around and ushered her up a nearby chain-linked fence that bordered the roller coaster's immediate area. "If we can get high enough, there's a connector from the employee platform to the second level," he grunted as he climbed up after her. She said nothing as she practically flew up the fifty feet of fence to the aforementioned platform. _Damn Sheikah,_ he mentally cursed as he climbed as fast as his hands could manage. Below, the sounds grew louder and more deafening as the high-beam lights of motorbikes tore through the darkness.

The park was pretty damn huge and the high ceilings, along with the thick walls, did a hell of a job blocking out noise. Link silently cursed his luck and inattentiveness as he accepted Zelda's offered hand and heaved up over the edge. The two took off down the path. The light from Navi fleetingly passed over rusted clown statues and childish cartoon images horridly disfigured from disuse and age.

Disturbing wasn't strong enough a word, he decided.

They turned a corner, hooking around an old food stand, and nearly collided with a pile of fallen rubble from a collapsed arcade. Link did all but throw Zelda over it, then followed suit. As soon as his feet hit the ground, however, the entire place began to rumble. For a split second, the word _earthquake_ crossed his mind, but after looking up, he realized it was much worse.

Working on instinct, he grabbed Zelda by the shoulders and threw them to the side, out of the way. As soon as they hit the ground a massive boulder fell from above and crashed on the spot where they were just standing, leaving a huge crater in its wake. Dust and pebbles rained over them as Link got to his feet and hauled her up.

The ground rumbled again. Link shoved Zelda to the side as he watched the ten foot tall boulder unravel into a huge _rock-creature-thing,_ with gangling limbs and a smiling face. He faintly recognized it as a Goron, an old race of people who appeared to be made of stone, consumed stone, and originated from within the mountains. While they refused to accept the advancing technologies of plastic prosthetics, holograms, and new tech, they were masters in the works and moldings of iron and old tech, known officially as Steam Tech.

_Fuck,_ he thought.

Zelda, who was twenty feet away by then, stopped to call back to him: "Come on!"

Slowly he moved back as the Goron's beady eyes bore into him, focused with an intent he could not decipher. Link turned and tried to run, but another boulder crash landed between him and Zelda. Although smaller, this one had half its body embedded with iron machinery, the joints screeching as the Goron unfolded and stood tall at over seven feet. Steam and oil dripped from between the thick metal plates, casting a hot blast of acrid smoke into the air. Then another fell, landing to its right.

"Run!" he heard Zelda call as he leapt backwards and maneuvered around the third ten foot tall monstrosity. But the creature wasn't about to let him get away, and its giant fist slammed down into the concrete. He tried to move, tried to get away, but he knew there was no avoiding this.

"_LINK!"_

Cracks exploded throughout the asphalt and concrete all around him. Through his boots he felt the ground give way, and then he was falling, _falling._


	7. The Pit

_**A/N:**_ After a _long_ hiatus, I decided to come back and fix up this story. And, seriously? This... this needed some serious, serious overhaul. I apologize to everyone that lost interest in this, or that was disappointed and wanted me to continue. I had to go through some... pretty hard stuff last year, and well, it didn't clear up until the start of this summer. Anyway, that's no real excuse, but I'm trying, and I'll try to finish this story. It shouldn't be too much longer, anyway, after I'm done updating/uploading all the new replacement chapters.

**Warning:** This is a CYBERPUNK AU (Alternate Universe), heavily inspired by Ocarina of Time, but not a parody/mirror/whatever. By cyberpunk, I am including dark themes, suggestive material (including but not limited to: drug use, horny teenagers, unorthodox violence, excessive cursing, and addiction/dependency). If this bothers you, if you are under-aged, there is a button at the top of your screen that stands for **BACK**. I suggest you use it.

**Disclaimer: **This is a non-profit, amateur effort not intended to infringe on the rights of any copyright holder. Characters belong to their respective owners.

* * *

**Chapter 7 -** The Pit

* * *

Link woke to the muffled roar of a crowd. The iron metal walls of the small, windowless room trembled. Dust fell through the cracks in the ceiling, contaminating the already filthy air. Light filtered in between metal bars, the caged door behind him rusted and red—just like the rest of the shit holding the place up. Smoke irritated his lungs and his limbs felt as though he'd been tossed around like a rag doll.

The teen eased himself up on his haunches and delicately patted down his sides. Everything was where he left it—except for his now missing favorite synthetic leather jacket, which will inevitably invoke some large amount of rage later—including the modular shiv against his thigh, and Navi on his left wrist. His instincts tingled as the roar outside deafened, causing the walls to tremor violently and force chunks of plaster to dislodge from the ceiling.

Link nimbly rolled out of the way as a particularly large piece of debris buckled, fell, and then obliterated the corner he previously occupied. While silently waiting out the rumbles, he dug around in his back pockets for a spare bandana to cover his nose and mouth.

With that task done, he stepped up to the bars and tightened the straps of his fingerless synthetic leather gloves. Down the hall, the screech of metal on metal, followed by heavy systematic thumping, informed him that someone—or _something_—approached. He backed away, pressing up against the side wall, as a hideous monstrosity lurched its way to his caged door. Steam blasted from tiny valves and black oil seeped from tiny bullet holes, each blob hissing loudly with every plop against the cold rusted floor.

Only one beady eye stared at him, the other was a glassy marble filled with red colored smoke. Metal cogs whirled as the iron giant spoke: "Come."

As the rusted locks opened and the metal bars moved against the floor, throwing out sparks as it scraped to the side, a crazy idea popped into Link's head—_he could run. _But Link quickly dismissed the plan as _too insane,_ once he remembered the rumors that the Gorons could roll up into spherical shapes and run down anyone that outran them.

With that happy thought in mind, he followed the iron giant down the narrow hall. He winced as the Goron's shoulders scraped against the sides of the tiny exit and sent sparks into the air. Before he could follow through, an enormous iron hand, all angles and solid iron, wrapped around his neck and flung him from the hall into open acrid air.

Link spiraled out of control and crashed shoulder-first into dirt covered ground. The teen skidded to a slow stop, his ears ringing from the silence until suddenly… The roar of the crowd boomed, rattling his very core and nearly shaking the life out of him. Without another thought, Link jumped to his feet and switched Navi over to his right wrist. He grasped the modular shiv in his left hand as he analyzed the new problem.

_Fuck,_ he sighed as he acknowledged the sinking feeling in his gut. Fear and adrenaline pumped into his system as he recognized the horizontal pit, nearly fifty feet wide with twenty foot high chain-linked fencing all around. He'd heard of The Pit, and the matches the Gorons threw, but he never thought…

"**BROTHERS!**" A mechanical voice proclaimed out of buzzing speakers all around the arena seats, the very building trembling under the sound. Reddish dust and smoke clouded the air, yet the noise was so loud Link wondered if the structure would crumble without the shit in the air to dampen the sounds marginally.

"**TONIGHT WE FEATURE A MATCH BETWEEN THE EX-SOLDIER AND THE ESCAPED HUMAN FIREWALL!**"

_Escaped Human Firewall?_ Link asked himself as he slowly turned and activated the shiv. He squeezes the handle hard enough to activate Level Two, short-sword mode.

"**THE WINNER OF THIS BATTLE WILL EARN THE TITLE OF BROTHER AMONG US, DESCENDANTS OF THE RUDANIA CLAN!**"

Link heard the hiss of steam blasting out of pipes, tubes expanding and contrasting under the pressure of pumped oil, before he realized another door to his far right shuttered open above The Pit. He spun on his heel in time to watch a shirtless man with bulging muscles and blue wirework that glowed under his skin get tossed like a bag of mindless cables into The Pit.

_I'm screwed,_ he realized as his shiv automatically extended a few more inches and hummed with energy.

"Navi, analyze target," he whispered as he slowly backed away, shiv raised and held loosely between him and his opponent.

_:: Ex-Soldier Rank 5A, Elite Class Corporal Coren Romani, age thirty four. Court Marshaled under assassination attempt on Gerudo Corporation Head of Security. Escaped four days, seventeen hours, twenty three minutes ago. Broadcast on Gemini wave reports negative, manhunt cancelled ::_ Navi translated directly to his system. He nodded slightly as he hopped back and forth on his heels, loosening his limbs.

"Implants?" he whispered.

_:: Searching Medical Records… some mention of strength enhancement, sight enhancement, reaction time modifications. Violet skin and artery discoloration side effects from blood transfusion treated with still-in-testing liquefied chemical mixture code-named Blue Potion. No noticeable longstanding internal injuries, weaknesses, or advantageous targets ::_

The ground rumbled as Link adjusted his grip and locked eyes with the ex-solider. Ashen blond hair, squared jaw with a large, rounded nose and black, angry eyes. A closer look revealed to Link that the man was bleeding from several shallow injuries that must have been dealt very recently. He considered this fact for a moment, and came to the conclusion that this was not Coren's first match in The Pit.

And suddenly he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Deafening yet exhilarating heavy music blasted out of the speakers. Coren's fists rose as he took a steady step towards Link. The teen adjusted the grip on his shiv and shook the wrist that held Navi.

"This is going to _suck,_" he groaned.

_:: Try aiming for the jugular ::_

"…Gee. Thanks."

Then Coren was in his face, his fist buried in Link's gut. A series of clicks and cheers echoed from the audience before the teen registered the hit. His body flew backwards, collided with the chain-link fence, and then slammed into the dirt. He gasped behind his cloth mask as multiple emergency devices embedded in his abdomen switched on. Combat modifications Level One and Two emptied an unregulated dose of chemical enhancements into his system. His fingers curled, tightly gripping red dirt as he struggled to swallow air through his cheap cloth mask.

"What's this?" Coren's deep voice reverberated through the air, "The great Link down from a simple punch?"

Link paid him no mind as he struggled from the intensifying burn in his veins. He wasn't used to this _shit;_ it had been years since he needed to resort to the barbaric method of pumping as many chemicals into his bloodstream as he could handle. The steady beat of his quickened heart rang in his ears and he clenched his eyes shut against the extreme pressure behind them. Pain pierced his lungs after a boot rammed his side, his body tossed sideways.

"Get up, hero. I expected more!"

The immediate side effects of the chemicals slowly ebbed away just as the ex-soldier grabbed him by the hair and roughly yanked his head off the ground, attempting to knee him in the face. Link's eyes shot open, one hand catching him by the shin. He slammed a fist between Coren's legs, sending him to the floor.

The teen jerked to his feet and leapt back, falling into a fighting stance with the shiv still in his hands, and tuned out the fire in his veins as best as he could. Even so, a trickle of blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, down his chin and past the cloth to the already reddened dirt.

_:: Don't lose control ::_ Navi beeped. The reminder irritated him. He was already struggling to keep his mind in check; the soft scent of blood curled around his senses and tensed his nerves.

"I know," he hissed as Coren got up and lunged at him.

Knuckles skimmed his cheek, knocking the flimsy cloth mask away as Link dodged. The crowd's roar shook the ground as Link slashed diagonally with the sword. The blade caught Coren's retreating chest, leaving a shallow gash from hip to opposite shoulder. Blue blood sprayed into the air. The teen's stomach rolled.

"I don't want to kill you," Link shouted.

"Don't got a choice, kid." Coren hissed.

In the blink of an eye Coren was inside his guard, shoulder to the gut and throwing him into the nearest fence, again. This time Link kept his balance and used the added momentum to give more power to his own hits. He parried a punch and nailed Coren with his own, sending the man back. But to his surprise, the ex-soldier began to laugh.

"How did it feel when you found out _just who died_ after they made you take that medical system offline?" The man asked, facing Link with one blue covered hand over his chest as he straightened. Link felt his left eye twitch once, and his mind spun. He sucked in one shuddering breath and slammed shut the mental floodgates before he could let his emotions take hold.

"Forty three children, listed as collateral damage," a mechanical voice vaguely resembling his own replied plainly. The ex-soldier flinched, as though struck across the face from the unexpected reaction. Then a sly smile slid over his features as he began to walk slowly to the right.

"I see they didn't succeed in the attempted memory wipe."

It was Link's turn to smile, though the look didn't reach his eyes and only served to make him appear more mechanical and less human. In turn, he absently circled his opponent as well, mimicking the movement.

"If it were partly successful," Link iterated, "I wouldn't know about it."

Coren laughed, then shot across the small gap between them, and punched high. Link parried, and slashed horizontally. The ex-soldier back-flipped, feet kicking up dirt and dust into the polluted air as he landed.

"Why are you goading me?" Link asked.

Coren replied with a hoarse, choked laugh: "Let's call it a death wish."

The ex-soldier lunged in again, and the teen's world went dark as dirt flew in his eyes. Half a second passed, and then his shiv flew out of his hand. A kick caught him just under the jaw. His throat nearly collapsed as he flew back to the ground, crashing heavily to the dirt. A foot slammed into his chest. His hands immediately clenched around the ankle, trying to resolve the pressure, to no success.

"Fuck…" he hissed.

"Tell me, Link… do you remember the look on your mother's face when she crossed the boundary to Lower Grounds?"

It was like time froze once the words took their full effect on his mind. Something snapped. The sounds dulled to a muted hum. Pain became a far and distant concept. The ankle bones in his hands collapsed beneath his rage. Something rang as he forced the person to the ground. Hands squeezed flesh beneath army cargo pants. Deep inside, he savored the soft crack as bone and muscle bent then crumbled. Vaguely, he could feel a stabbing pain in his right wrist and an annoying voice.

_:: Hey! ::_

He crawled over the man's body. A fist smashed into Link's face. He flinched. Then a knee cracked his abdomen, over bruises he _almost_ felt. He grabbed the ex-soldier, hauled him to his knees with hands wrapped around a blue tinted neck. Link stared blankly at a black, bloodshot glare. Then suddenly red blood sprayed into the air. He heard a crunch, and an intense pressure blossom between his eyes as his head snapped backwards. Still, he didn't loosen his grip.

_:: Stop! ::_

Link held the ex-soldier steady with his left hand and pulled his right hand back. The crunch of bone and skin to skin contact echoed loudly in his ringing ears. The man's entire body shuddered violently in his grip, nearly propelled out of his fingers from the force of the blow.

_:: LINK! ::_

Pain. Electricity shot through his system. Screams from the crowd spiraled into instant attention. The beating of his heart pulsed in his ears. His eyes lost their focus. Reality fell into place. Link released the man and jumped to his feet, stumbling wildly over himself as he took several steps back.

Everything seemed to hit him at once as the extended side effects of the diminished drugs rushed to leave his system. His hands immediately curled around his ribs as he bent at the waist and hurled.

"You… _bitch,"_ he groaned between convulses, still gagging though his stomach was surely empty.

_:: You are welcome, idiot ::_ Navi replied.

Chunks of cement fell into The Pit, a result of the outstanding roars of the crowd magnified from the fight. Link uncurled from standing fetal position and approached Coren's prone body. Blue dripped from the man's mouth, mingling with the reddened ground. Black eyes stared at him warily. For reasons unknown to Link, he wrapped his arms around the soldier's upper shoulders and just held him.

"They called it a… discoloration… but it was really more like a… a _contamination,_" the ex-soldier murmured. Somewhere in the midst of the aches in his chest, he felt a twinge of pity for the man. So, Link reached forward to grasp his hand, a small hope forming that maybe they could call this shit a draw and both be brothers, maybe. Maybe. His gloved hand lifted the blue-tinged fingers off the dirt.

_BANG_ cut through the roar of the crowd. The music, the screams, everything—instantly silenced. Link could not move. He was covered in blue. So much blue. _Everywhere._

The mangled body fell back to the ground, spilling blue into the dirt like a bottle of coolant with its top popped.

Link stared at the mess sprawled out and bleeding over dust, disconnected. Numbed. His world trembled while the crowd, as one, stomped the arena floors. Walls buckled. Chain-linked fence curved inwards as the surge of the crowd pushed up against the metal that was unbreakable to him, yet as flimsy as paper to the Gorons.

A huge fleshed hand that resembled brown stone wrapped around his waist and pulled him away from blue. The ex-soldier's hand fell from his grasp. He reached halfheartedly, stretching his fingers out towards the ground. Yet… Link knew the Goron would not let go. And why should he? The blue on the ground had no head. No head at all.

"**WELCOME TO THE FAMILY, BROTHER LINK!"**

The crowd cheered.


	8. Online

_**A/N:**_ After a _long_ hiatus, I decided to come back and fix up this story. And, seriously? This... this needed some serious, serious overhaul. I apologize to everyone that lost interest in this, or that was disappointed and wanted me to continue. I had to go through some... pretty hard stuff last year, and well, it didn't clear up until the start of this summer. Anyway, that's no real excuse, but I'm trying, and I'll try to finish this story. It shouldn't be too much longer, anyway, after I'm done updating/uploading all the new replacement chapters.

**Warning:** This is a CYBERPUNK AU (Alternate Universe), heavily inspired by Ocarina of Time, but not a parody/mirror/whatever. By cyberpunk, I am including dark themes, suggestive material (including but not limited to: drug use, horny teenagers, unorthodox violence, excessive cursing, and addiction/dependency). If this bothers you, if you are under-aged, there is a button at the top of your screen that stands for **BACK**. I suggest you use it.

**Disclaimer: **This is a non-profit, amateur effort not intended to infringe on the rights of any copyright holder. Characters belong to their respective owners.

* * *

**Chapter 8 - **Online

* * *

After the crowd departed, they dragged him through their compound and navigated a confusing network of tunnels, false exits, dead ends, and sleeping quarters. Link had never felt so entirely lost and suffocated before—or, at least, not both at the same time. But Navi still functioned and a tiny, incomplete map had formed. Sure, anyone with even the most basic net access could retrieve a crude map of the Goron interior. The problem was that down here he didn't have access.

Eventually they dumped him into a room with another massive half-iron giant, its chin feathered with thin hanging veins of granite. Link wondered how they managed to trim that beard. The beginnings of a hysterical chuckle escaped his mouth before he managed to clamp down on his tongue and shut his trap.

"Give me a sec," Link grunted to the perplexed Gorons as he hauled his ass off the ground. His lungs choked on the unfiltered air as he forced gulp after gulp down into his lungs, but through the series of hacking coughs, he successfully reined his emotions in and locked them away. Once calm, he wrapped his arms around his abused torso.

"Okay, _brothers,_" a cold, distant voice that resembled his own left his lips as his eyes opened. "What do you want?"

**"Brother Link,"** the Goron with the beard on half his face near-shouted as he rose from the crouched position on the floor of the empty room. Joints whispered as they unhinged, a sign that they've been kept well oiled for some time. Steam left in tiny spurts from the Goron's angular left shoulder, the iron and tainted steel glinting in the poor LED torchlight. **"We need your help."**

Link pondered this momentarily. Three big fucking greased up iron giants that could squish him with their pinky fingers needed _his_ help? Then with a wave of his hand, the bearded Goron dismissed the guards situated behind Link. _As if the giant needed them in the first place,_ he thought.

**"You killed Cyprus and cleaned out his gang—our rivals!"** The Goron announced suddenly, breaking the silence with a fleshy hand that slammed against Link's back and sent him right across the room.

Link cursed incoherently as he peeled his face off the wall. "I did… _what?_"

**"Don't act modest in the presence of family, brother."** A mechanical whine pierced the air, followed closely by velvet coughs. Was he laughing? **"Word on the street is you're out of hiding. Slaughtered Cyprus and all. Half of Section Oh One Oh is just gone, and they say it's all you."**

What was this feeling in his bones? Like something he wasn't familiar with. Something called _dread._

**"So brother, is a revolution coming?"**

Link stared at his red and blue stained hands with his mind spinning, stuck like a broken loop revolving around the first fucking cycle. "I did _what?_"

**"Enough modesty, Brother! We, too, live, breathe, and eat **_**REVOLUTION!"**_ The last word bellowed out and shook the walls. Cement crumbled, dust fell from cracks in the metal.

For a brief, insane moment, Link wanted to tear out the Goron's eyes with his hands and scream the revolution devours its children. _The revolution devours its children._ But then he took another lung full of dust and rust and smoke and other shit and coughed up the last of his anger, and then banished the memories from his mind.

**"But first, we need your help."** The Goron continued, completely unaware of the teen's temporary breach of reality.

Link coughed and spat a black globule of spit and mucus and blood on the floor, then arched his neck in an exceptionally uncomfortable angle to look at the Goron. His logical mind processed data, numbers, and information to crunch out a probability of survival in the event he denied the request and took a beating. It soon became apparent the odds were not in his favor.

**"The firewall covering our Safe Box units failed several days ago."** The bearded giant spoke again, as though Link had answered in the positive instead of not answered at all. **"You were a legend. You are a legend. We are forever in your debt if you will, Brother."**

For some absurd reason beyond his grasp, Link could not find a suitable excuse to just say no to the black, beady eyed, grotesque, half-iron, smiling face. And he wanted to. He really, _really_ wanted to.

Sooner than he could even think to change his mind, Link found himself transported—dropped, fucking dropped—through a trap door into a room so different from every other part of the complex. Plastic lined the walls, cooling devices kept the room at perfect temperature, while an advanced ventilation system filtered the air. Several dozen networks connected via a jungle of wireless devices, wires, and coiled cables. He could feel the electric hum in the air—the setting stirred almost nostalgic memories, yet he was still hesitant.

**"You're all set, Brother!"** The Goron called down from above. The trap door slide shut with a resounding click. It should have comforted him, but instead the sound only emphasized his inability to escape the situation.

"Navi," he whispered, his voice inexplicably rough. "Run—"

_:: Guardian Program. Check ::_ she interrupted.

Despite the glaringly bad choices that led him up to this moment—the worst choice so far—he smirked. His boots thumped heavily as Link shambled across the clean floor to a bare corner, isolated from the tech in the room. He slipped his hands under the hem of his dirt stained wife-beater, ignored the aches in his bones, and yanked the shirt over his head. It floated for half a second before suddenly catching weight and dropping straight to the floor like a stick of lead.

Link sifted through his pockets, pulled out a small rubber-band, and snapped the stray strands of his shaggy hair at the base of his neck. Soft cracks echoed in his ears as he slowly rolled his head from one shoulder to the other, loosening up his joints. The dull ache in his bones served as a reminder that he was tired. But he ignored it to drag his feet over to a terminal, one shaped to fit a body of his size.

The metal chair called to him, though it looked incredibly uncomfortable. With a straight back and perfectly flat seat, it was not the model of relaxation. Along the backing, tiny wires stuck out at a ninety degree angle, as well as two per arm rest at the wrist's general area.

Blood pumped in his ears and in his veins as he stared blankly at the steel. Then he collapsed into the chair. Goosebumps erupted all over his skin as he sat up, rigidly straight, and shifted a few times to align the ports along his spine, upper shoulders, and wrists with the ones in the chair.

_:: Welcome ::_ A woman's voice echoed throughout the room.

Electricity close to the amount of a lightning strike pulsed through the chair, and by connection, through him. His body jumped, or would have jumped, if the automatic restraints hadn't hissed and bound him tightly to the terminal. He gasped. His head snapped to the left, to the right. His back arched violently. His wrists rubbed raw and bled from the tight metal binds. Another pulse. Another jerk. He screamed.

And then he saw it.

Code. Numbers. Basic. Lines and lines and lines of everything he ever needed to know and never needed to see and he was online. _He was online._

He was online and he needed to fix the fucking fire wall and get the fuck off the net before they fucking found him. They never stopped searching. They never stop. But. But four years. After four long fucking years, _he was online._

It was euphoric.


	9. Correlate

_**A/N:**_ After a _long_ hiatus, I decided to come back and fix up this story. And, seriously? This... this needed some serious, serious overhaul. I apologize to everyone that lost interest in this, or that was disappointed and wanted me to continue. I had to go through some... pretty hard stuff last year, and well, it didn't clear up until the start of this summer. Anyway, that's no real excuse, but I'm trying, and I'll try to finish this story. It shouldn't be too much longer, anyway, after I'm done updating/uploading all the new replacement chapters.

**Warning:** This is a CYBERPUNK AU (Alternate Universe), heavily inspired by Ocarina of Time, but not a parody/mirror/whatever. By cyberpunk, I am including dark themes, suggestive material (including but not limited to: drug use, horny teenagers, unorthodox violence, excessive cursing, and addiction/dependency). If this bothers you, if you are under-aged, there is a button at the top of your screen that stands for **BACK**. I suggest you use it.

**Disclaimer: **This is a non-profit, amateur effort not intended to infringe on the rights of any copyright holder. Characters belong to their respective owners.

* * *

**Chapter 9 -** Correlate

* * *

Lines. Lines and lines and more lines. And numbers. Numerical patterns written into the fabric of reality that existed where his mind traveled. Code flashed. Beeped. Screamed. At his eyes. In his ears. Sirens. Symbols. Systems. Pools and puddles and oceans of information. Naked. Everything. Open to him. Everything. Open, open only to him, because all he had to do was ask—and not ask but break into wherever. Wherever he needed. Wherever he wanted. Because he felt like it. Because he _could._

Because even after four years everything still worked the same though the code was heavier and lighter and the symbols shifted in meaning and protocols reevaluated and processes optimized and pieces replaced and he could still stretch his grasp unhindered to everywhere, everywhere, _everywhere._

But he couldn't. Navi reminded him of the job when he tried. Cut off resources. Reconnected them. Yes. No. The Net was off limits outside the parameters of the business. And not much was needed from outside. So he worked at the wall. The fire. The mountain of numbers and letters and symbols that danced and started to dance because he repaired it.

And then everything fell away.

Cold air blasted in his face. His eyes slid open and snapped shut immediately after. He forgot about the bright lights. A breath rushed from his lips as the wires snapped off and out of the ports along his spine and slipped back into the chair.

No more net access.

The memory came to him unbidden. The wires. The tools in his hands. Flashes of images, like a mental slideshow without a pause button, rolled behind his eyes. The memory of pain at the base of his skull ached.

So much shit happened when he bailed. The second worst thing was the manual removal of the chip in his neural network that granted him unrestricted NET access. But the only downfall was the greatest reason to remove it. In order to hide, to literally _vanish_, he could not be seen on the net. As long as that chip stayed, anyone who was looking did not have to look hard.

Link shook his head and banished the thoughts away.

"Do a quick scan for me, Navi," he muttered finally as he peeled his skin off the metal chair and trudged back to the corner to retrieve the discarded wife-beater. The material felt dry for the most part and (thankfully) didn't smell weird or foul, so he slipped it on.

_:: Scan complete, no problems found within Goron network ::_ Navi beeped as she formed her image on his shoulder.

"Good." Link nodded. "Security Frequencies?"

_:: Zero Red Flags ::_

"Ha. Great." Link let out a short sigh in relief.

_:: May I make a suggestion? ::_ Navi asked suddenly.

Link frowned, but nodded after a moment. "Go ahead."

_:: Vitals read at 54% efficiency. Time spent WIRED clock at six hours, thirty four minutes, eleven seconds ::_ As she spoke, the wall behind emitted several loud metallic clicks and then lifted half an inch off the white stone floor, sliding on unseen wheels to the side.

"So?" Link asked as he stared at the gap. He then slid through the small opening into the adjoined hall.

_:: Rest is recommended ::_

The wall slammed shut once Link passed through fully. Once again, the teen found himself submerged in filthy dry air, surrounded by rusted iron and steel. A test breath turned out to be a mistake. Link snapped over with his hands over his mouth and coughed hard enough to feel as though he were hacking up a lung.

_Son of a,_ his weary mind cursed as he quickly ripped off a good chunk of his tank to wrap over his mouth.

"Brothers?" he croaked, his voice hollow in the acrid air. The faded LED torch lights failed to illuminate more than the crap in the atmosphere and effectively cut his sight down to a maximum of ten feet in any direction. He took a step, and froze.

Further down the hall, he heard a loud CLANG. Then another. And another. And another. He squinted, his eyes picking up an odd, round shaped shadow and realized it quickly approached. In rapid succession, the clangs blended into squeals of iron against iron. The walls shook, the floor rumbled, and Link cursed his luck for the _four thousandth time_ that day.

"Oh, Din," he cursed under his breath, and then tried to take off in the opposite direction. But his aching muscles resisted and instead of running he awkwardly lurched down the hall, slapping his hands against the walls for support.

The ground's vibrations worsened, the walls cracked and groaned. A high pitched whistle cut through the smoke and rang offensively in his ears. He threw his hands over his head as he stumbled. The LED torch lights shattered and rained glass down over him. The screech of metal deafened all senses as it grew louder. Link lurched once more as he slammed his shoulder against a crack in the wall…

And fell through into a black room. Link's skull cracked against the floor. Stars exploded in front of his eyes. The world appeared to double and mute simultaneously. He jerked his head off the ground to peer back through the hole. Sparks exploded in all directions, showering him in bizarre beads of hot light as a massive oval ball of metal and flesh rushed past.

The ringing in his ears ceased in time to hear the screech of movement halt suddenly to a stop, followed by numerous pops and squeals that Link vaguely pictured as the sounds a metal ribbon might make when uncurling. The ground trembled. Then it shook with every echoed thump from the hall, punctuated by soft pops of liquid bubbles and hisses of steam.

**"Brother!"** hollered a smiling, rounded, face as it peeked around the edge of his hole, both beady eyes still natural instead of the glass orbs Link expected. The teen gaped, mouth half open stupidly in his daze.

**"There you are, Brother Link. I came to get—"** It paused, and shone a small light into Link's face. **"What happened to _you,_ brother?"** asked the Goron. Metal joints ground together as his leg stepped gingerly around Link's body.

"_You,_ damn it," Link choked through the cloth mask. "You happened."

The Goron flinched as though struck. His smiling face fell slightly, though the metal half-jaw stayed glued in a half-grin. Then Link's world shifted violently as he was suddenly scooped up into two fleshy arms and tucked to a tattooed chest.

**"We gonna have you fixed up in no time, Brother!"**

"W-wait?" Link grunted in confusion as the Goron lept out the hole and into the hall.

"Put me down!" he shouted. "I can walk!"

The Goron rolled up his trademark ball form, seemingly deaf to Link's demands.

As if Link's poor stomach hadn't taken enough of a beating, by the time the Goron popped out of its roll and dropped him onto a human sized medical unit, Link could no longer tell up from down from left from right.

"For the… the _love_ of all that is _shiny_… don't… _don't_ do that to me again," he whispered with a hand clamped over his eyes. With his other hand, he tore the cloth mask off his face and threw it to the floor.

**"Fixed in no time, Brother!"**

Link cracked open an eye. Four Gorons immediately filled his vision, and to his utter horror, doubled to eight, and then spun counter clockwise around him.

"If… if _fix_ means _iron implants,_ I… I'll set off the _self destruct_ codes to… to this compound," he rasped. Tension rippled through the air as the Gorons glanced at one another. He held his breath.

Suddenly the medical unit shook, throwing Link off the side as the Gorons burst into deafening laughter.

Link clawed at the cold, polished floor in nauseous agony. Every attempt to sit up failed due to his inability to hold his balance for more than two seconds. His stomach rolled. His eyes watered. He gagged, and choked back down the acid in the back of his throat. The floor cooled his forehead as he silently waited out the laughter.

Marble, like the lab, he noted dully. White polished stone and, he assumed, white walls and ceiling. Vaguely, Link wondered if the Gorons were less barbaric—and frightening—than he assumed earlier. Of course, the hiss of steam and hot escaped droplets of oil chased away that thought.

Heavy footfalls followed soon after one of the Gorons bellowed at him. **"Yer free to use the med equipment, Brother!"** The hiss of a door sliding open and then slamming shut echoed in his ears.

Finally, _finally,_ he was alone again. But alone or not, he wasn't quite ready to try and get up just yet.

"Ugh," he groaned. _"Fuck."_

_:: Link? ::_ Nav asked by his left ear.

"It doesn't make any sense," he sighed.

_:: What does not? ::_

"The Pit. Brothers. Hacking," Link explained poorly. A long pause followed his statement. The holographic image of Navi crackled next to his ear and his skin tingled.

_:: It is Goron cultural practice. Winner of The Pit is accepted into Brotherhood. Hacking is to protect their treasure, which is based on trust, which is based on brotherhood ::_

"So I kill someone, and thus I'm trustworthy to flex my hacker skills?"

_:: Essentially, yes ::_

"That's absurd." He closed his eyes and swallowed down another gag. "That's fucking absurd. The two don't fucking correlate. What the fuck? What. What the fuck."

Link laid there for a few beats, organizing his thoughts and pushing them away before he felt confident enough to attempt movement. He opened his eyes.

"Nav," he croaked.

_:: Yes, Link? ::_

"Which direction is the closest rejuv-chamber?" The image of a tall glass-and-steel tube came to mind. It called to him and his aching, tired body. Navi's image crackled by his ear as he felt her tiny holographic self walk by.

_:: Roughly ten feet forward, two feet to the right ::_

"Obstacles?"

_:: Two medical benches, including the one beside you ::_

Link breathed. His stomach flopped. He breathed again, and his world spun a little less rapidly. Another breath and he heaved himself up, threw his weight onto his hands and halfway onto the medical unit he fell off of. The whole room tilted dangerously to the right.

While concentrating on his breathing, Link jerked his body the ten feet forward and two feet to the right. He stared at the rejuvenation chamber. It stretched from the floor to the ceiling, consisted mostly of several advanced computers and chemical stations, with a central tube for the designated injured person. With a quick snap of his hands, he removed Navi from his wrist and attached it to the machine. In the next two minutes, Link somehow managed to strip down to his boxers without falling on his face, and then stumbled into the central tube.

The glass door slid shut behind him. Wires floated down from above and below as they slid through his clothes and attached to the designated ports. A mask hung in front of his face, which he eagerly snapped tight over his mouth. The teen breathed in oxygen as the container filled with a clear liquid solution.

_:: Current status - 39% efficiency. Energy supplies low. System Orange. Estimated Rejuvenation Time - seventy four minutes, forty eight seconds ::_

A pause. A series of beeps filtered strangely through the glass and liquid to Link's ears. He sighed and closed his eyes.

_:: Standby mode engaging in… Five. Four. Three. Two ::_

Panic surged in him. _"Wait!"_ Link growled, voice muffled by the oxygen mask.

_:: Link? ::_ Navi questioned, sounding almost… _confused._ He pushed that thought to the back of his mind.

"Don't put me in standby."

_:: The process can cause great discomfort and pain ::_

"I know," he cut off and opened his eyes. To his amazement, the fluid did not sting him.

_:: Are you sure? ::_

Link stared through the solution but could not see past the glass wall of the tube.

"Yes," he said.

_:: . . . Request granted ::_

"Thanks, Nav," he murmured tiredly as the chamber hummed to life.


	10. Compensation

_**A/N:**_ After a _long_ hiatus, I decided to come back and fix up this story. And, seriously? This... this needed some serious, serious overhaul. I apologize to everyone that lost interest in this, or that was disappointed and wanted me to continue. I had to go through some... pretty hard stuff last year, and well, it didn't clear up until the start of this summer. Anyway, that's no real excuse, but I'm trying, and I'll try to finish this story. It shouldn't be too much longer, anyway, after I'm done updating/uploading all the new replacement chapters.

**Warning:** This is a CYBERPUNK AU (Alternate Universe), heavily inspired by Ocarina of Time, but not a parody/mirror/whatever. By cyberpunk, I am including dark themes, suggestive material (including but not limited to: drug use, horny teenagers, unorthodox violence, excessive cursing, and addiction/dependency). If this bothers you, if you are under-aged, there is a button at the top of your screen that stands for **BACK**. I suggest you use it.

**Disclaimer: **This is a non-profit, amateur effort not intended to infringe on the rights of any copyright holder. Characters belong to their respective owners.

* * *

**Chapter 10 -** Compensation

* * *

_:: Flash Grenade. Rank Four. Grade Deku. Count - Four ::_

Link stared blankly at the crate of ammunition. His throat felt dry, itchy, and irritated.

"Details?" he croaked.

_:: Flash Grenade. Upon impact against a solid object or detonated otherwise, releases a powerful flash of light capable of blinding all within a five meter radius. Also releases a weak, electromagnetic charge capable of scrambling communications briefly ::_ Navi replied from his shoulder.

The four small bronze colored spheres decorated with two blue crisscrossing patterns twinkled up at him. On each sphere a tiny red bulb flashed once every few seconds, notifying him that they were still functional. With the utmost trepidation, Link picked up the Flash Grenades and placed them into an anti-security scanner pouch. That left eight spheres and a pouch still inside the crate on the table in front of him.

_:: Electro-Magnetic Pulse Bombs. Rank Five. Grade Chu. Count - Three. Capable of temporarily disabling all electrical devices within a 20 meter radius and possibly destroying computer-run systems within first ten meters of the blast center ::_

Link frowned. For something so powerful, they were awfully small. Each EMP bomb fit comfortably in the palm of his hand, spheres just large enough to prevent his fingertips from touching when they closed around it. Nearly every living being in the city was hard-wired with electronic systems.

Silently, the teen swore to his conscience that they would only be used as a very, very last resort, and pocketed the bombs.

_:: Dodon Remote Mines. Rank Two. Grade Chu. Count - Five. Tuning DRM to personal frequency . . ._

_. . . tuning complete. Dodon Remote Mines. Detonate upon your command. Strong enough to blast through two feet of steel. Blast radius estimated to about five meters ::_

After a moment of shuffling inside the anti security-scanner pouch, he tucked the last of the portable explosives away.

_Next order of business,_ he thought, _payment._ His fingers closed around the rough synthetic fabric that held the Gorons' compensation for using up his time to perfect the defenses of their valuables. Or something along those lines. Link had a feeling that zoning out during a long conversation was not the greatest idea he's ever had, but it was too late to worry about it now.

And he needed whatever money they could give him, anyway. Navi's recording extension needed modding. He plucked the sack from the table and untied it. Several sparkling gems half the size of the Flash Grenades fell into his gloved palm.

"What?" He stared.

_:: Raw Red Mountain Diamonds, Rubies, and Onyx. Incredibly rare, dangerous after the long manufacturing procedure to convert the rocks into pure Life Powder. Volatile in any state, except gem and jewel form. Price values in current black market vary between twenty to thirty thousand rupees apiece. Raw stones, and Life Powder, currently banned under old Hylian Regulations due to severe safety hazard ::_ Navi explained quietly into his ear.

It was then that Link noticed the shuffling feet of the other Gorons in the room—not that he couldn't notice, as their shuffling sounded like _thunder_. The leader with the half beard grinned down at him.

Shortly after Link exited the rejuv-chamber and got dressed, the leader found him. He then learned that the leader's name was Boss. Not because he was the boss, but that his actual given name was Boss. And it fit, kind of.

The half iron, half stony flesh giant grinned his crooked half metal grin, and both of his eyes sparkled at Link through the pollution of the air in the room.

**"Do you approve, Brother?"** Boss nearly shouted.

"I… Uh," Link stuttered as his eyes were drawn back to the stones. Inwardly he winced at his severe loss for words.

**"Surely Brother Link knows the main trade of the Goron clans?"** Another Goron asked. The other Gorons murmured their agreement, and confusion.

The teen blinked, breathed, and prayed he wouldn't offend them. "I did…" he started slowly, "but I had no idea of your…"

**"Power?"**

**"Talent?"**

**"Skill?"**

The three other Gorons answered loudly, their voices causing more than just the table to shake. Link nodded eagerly as sweat rolled down his back.

"Yes!" he gasped. "I'm not worthy of these gifts."

Boss clapped his hands together. Link jumped, startled. **"Thank you, Brother Link, for your kind words! But we must insist, keep them."**

The teen cast a wary glance around the room at the pleasant, if not absolutely terrifying, smiles and beady eyes. With a forced smile and a nod, Link dropped the gems into the sack, and then placed it into the bag with the rest of the explosives. The Gorons each shook a fist into the air, and before Link knew what was happening, he was herded out the door, down the filthy halls, and into a pristine new room.

He spun around. Only Boss had stayed. Link gaped, still at an _awful_ loss for words, when a quiet cough broke the silence behind him.

_:: Zelda ::_ Navi beeped into the room. The teen slowly looked over his shoulder and, sure enough, there she stood with hands hanging limply at her sides and face covered though her eyes were clearly visible. Suddenly a heavy hand patted Link's side, nearly throwing him off his feet.

**"Go now, Brother Link, and bring glory to the Rudania tribe!"**

Faster than Link could form a coherent response, Boss exited the room. The iron door squealed shut and sent dust out from the metal frame. He stared at the wall with a blank expression, his mind not quite caught up with the events that lead up to that moment.

"Are you all right, Link?" Zelda asked after an awkward pause.

"…I'm fine." Link shrugged. He watched Zelda cross and uncross her arms uncomfortably. After a few more repeats of this nervous gesture, Link sighed and tore off his mask, discarding it to the ground without much care.

"Are we leaving?" he croaked.

She paused, arms in the midst of crossing over her chest, and nodded. "I had arranged a transport t—"

"No," Link interrupted roughly as he walked across the room. He passed her, yanked open the only other door in the room, and reeled back in surprise as a burst of cool, clean air hit him square in the face. His eyes watered and his nose twitched as he realized he smelled salt on the breeze.

"What?" he whispered, more to himself than the other person in the room.

The sky was still blocked by the Upper Level's intricate network of pipes, steel, titanium, and concrete embedded together as a false ceiling; but instead of the separated section blocks of divided Living Spaces and Community Resources, he saw a maze of tunnels, walls, and enormous metal crates stacked nearly as high as the false ceiling. A breeze hit him again, and the scent of fish assaulted his senses. Link braced himself against the door as the tingling began, one arm wrapped around his waist. Then he bent forward and sneezed.

"Goddess bless," Zelda murmured behind him.

Link grunted and moved aside, holding the door open for her. He glanced down her backside as she stepped through, briefly considered the guilt that stemmed from ogling her behind, and then followed. The door swung closed on its own.

He jogged up to walk by her side. Part of him focused on the dark path they followed to Port Hylia, while the other part of him was still left faintly confused.

"How?" he asked, suddenly aware of just how badly he needed to actually drink some water.

"You were gone for nearly two days," she replied with eyes glued to the tunnel they approached. "The vehicles used by the Rudania Clan left tracks that could be picked up with ultra-light equipment. I eventually found you."

Link stayed silent, listening to the screech and hiss of machinery echoing in the distance. He noted the cranes that maneuvered the enormous metal crates of fish—the first sign that they skirted dangerously close to Zora territory—and the teen didn't like it. Not one bit.

"My father is a friend to the Rudania," she continued. "I managed to gain access to witness the fights held in The Pit—"

His hand snapped up in the air, effectively silencing her, and said: "I don't want to know."

They passed through the tunnel entrance and found themselves in the dimly lit cavern. Their boots echoed eerily in the darkness, bouncing against the high walls and damp floor.

"But—"

"Just…" Link shook his head. "Where are we going?"

"We are meet up with an informant inside Section One-Oh-Two. Before the Gorons chased us down in Windfish, I was about to explain how we are to take down the leader of Gerudo Corp."

"And?" Link slowly waved Navi around, the semi-powerful LED flashlight activated.

"If we take down the central core system, it will leave the Nano-Viral Program vulnerable," she replied and kicked a stray can to the side. It bounced off, outside the edge of Navi's beam.

"Impossible," Link murmured. "I've seen the code. Impenetrable."

"No." Zelda spoke with conviction and grabbed Link's arm roughly. He stopped to stare at her.

"No," she repeated, eyes wild. "There is a way. A master virus. M-Sword."

The teen stared at her. Inside, he debated over a suitable response, but deep down he knew that nothing was truly impossible with the right amount of rupees and programming power, yet…

Link's sensitive ears twitched. He turned to look behind them and stared into the dark. The entrance was already a small white hole in the distance, and Navi's light did little to help. He frowned.

"Hm." He started walking in the opposite direction of the phantom noise. Though he didn't see anything worrisome, his instincts just couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. Or followed. "Let's just keep moving."


	11. A Little Swim

_**A/N:**_ New computer, classes, and a new job. Sorry. :(

**Warning:** This is a CYBERPUNK AU (Alternate Universe), heavily inspired by Ocarina of Time, but not a parody/mirror/whatever. By cyberpunk, I am including dark themes, suggestive material (including but not limited to: drug use, horny teenagers, unorthodox violence, excessive cursing, and addiction/dependency). If this bothers you, if you are under-aged, there is a button at the top of your screen that stands for **BACK**. I suggest you use it.

**Disclaimer: **This is a non-profit, amateur effort not intended to infringe on the rights of any copyright holder. Characters belong to their respective owners.

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**Chapter 11** - A Little Swim

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Saying that this was not what Link expected would be an understatement. A lot of things had happened that he did not foresee happening. After all, he did not expect the rumors of his existence to spread as quickly as it did. Then there was the Goron-related fiasco. But this…

Link sighed inwardly. His blue eyes tracked a particularly large tropical fish behind the glass, watched the long multicolored fins ripple in the enormous tank. No, he realized, he did not expect to end up here. Again.

"Link!" A high pitched voice squealed. The teen spun around in time to take a tackle to the chest that nearly knocked him off his feet. Nearly, but didn't.

Link gasped and stared down at the tiny girl whose arms were wrapped tightly around his waist.

"N-nice to see you too, Mai," he grunted as he peeled the tiny, blue skinned Zora child away from his body.

"You said you would visit!" Mai squealed, her lips pouting cutely. "You _lied!"_

Link winced at the tears gathering in her large, black eyes. The sight easily bent his will and he quickly gave in to the needy child. He knelt down to her eyelevel, and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he said.

A moment passed, and then the girl threw her arms around his neck in a hug. Link froze. Slowly his senses returned to him and he awkwardly patted the child a few times on the back. Then, in one swift motion, he lifted the girl off the ground and spun in a circle.

Mai's soft whimpers quickly warped into voracious laughter, and Link could not help but smile.

Once the spinning ceased, he realized they were being watched. He let out a hesitant smile towards the young Zoran woman in the doorway.

"Your mom's watchin," he said, and resisted the urge to laugh as the child launched herself from his grip to run back to her lilac-tinted mother.

"Link." The Zora in a fine white gown greeted him with a soft nod of the head.

"Lady Raito," he replied and returned the gesture.

"You must be hungry." She spoke quietly, dark eyes dancing as she approached him. Everything about the woman screamed elegance and sophistication, and if she wasn't a fish person Link was sure he would've been dumbstruck by her feminine wiles.

However… she was a fish person, and he wasn't dumbstruck, so he settled for a shake of the head.

"No, thank you." Link paused, mulling over his thoughts. "Is Zelda's meeting over yet?"

As much as Link didn't want to ask, he was more than a little perturbed that he could not join in the gathering. Truth be told, it made him uneasy. More than once did the thought of him walking face first into a trap come to mind. Yet he could not help but trust Zelda, no matter how much his logical side reminded him that this was simply blind faith placed on a beautiful face.

"Are you so eager to leave?" Lady Raito asked teasingly. Link blanched at his apparent rudeness, but before he could apologize, she waved off his expression with a delicate hand and a soft laugh.

"No," she said between chuckles, "It will be some time before they are finished."

An unnamed emotion jumped to the front of his mind, and he was not entirely sure if it was due to his paranoid suspicion.

"Link!" Mai's voice snapped him out of his reverie. "Wanna watch me fish at the docks?"

It wasn't a hard choice, really. Especially considering he needed a distraction, it didn't take him long to reply.

"Yeah."

Before he had time to breathe, tiny scaly blue hands grasped his wrist and hauled him out of the room, down a dizzying path of hallways he didn't bother to memorize—mostly because Zora don't usually wait to kill someone, and the best way to escape them is to never go near them in the first place.

And suddenly Link found himself staring at a vast open space of blue. The horizon was forever away, but he could almost see sky. Almost. But the blue wasn't really blue, more of like a murky, convoluted liquid mixture of black, brown, gray, and violet.

He should've immediately thought _ocean,_ but from all the pollution it just didn't _look_ like it.

However, the sandy, fishy smell told him otherwise.

The two hands around his wrist released him, and Link watched the girl run across the metal platform, weaving between nets and heavy machinery. Despite his best efforts, his chest twisted in slight panic every time her hands nearly grazed the still moving, still churning hunks of metal.

He followed her, and reached the guard rails in time to see the Zora child dive head long into the shifting polluted waters. He blanched. The sight shook him.

Sure, it was common knowledge that the fish people had somehow developed a powerful enough system of filters and chemicals hardwired in tandem with their immune system to be perfectly safe from the pollution, but to willfully swim around in that mess of liquid…

It bothered him.

"Mai?" he called out as he gripped the rails a little tighter and leaned over to peer into the polluted mess.

A beat passed and suddenly she flew out of the water, flipped into the air, and laughed, before disappearing once again into the waves, out of sight. Link grinned and clapped his hands, whistling loudly.

The water bubbled and he edged back in anticipation. Once again, the Zora child flew out of the water in a series of elaborate twirls. It was almost enough to distract him from the agitated fish that flew towards his head. Link ducked as a fish whirled past his head. It hit the floor, flopping around and spraying the violet sea water everywhere in its struggles. He shuddered and turned back to watch Mai and her theatrics.

Minutes passed, the sound of heavy machinery breaking the silence as well as a few bursts of giggles and laughter.

"It won't kill you," Lady Raito murmured at his left.

The teen jumped, startled. He glanced at her, confusion written on his face.

She smiled in return. "A little water won't harm you," she elaborated with an elegant wave of her hand.

"Oh," was all he managed to say.

The conversation lapsed into an awkward silence. The close proximity to the Lady made him uneasy, for more than a few reasons which he vehemently did not want to think about.

"She missed you," Lady Raito said suddenly.

"I know," he replied without looking away from the water. "I was supposed to be in hiding."

"Well, clearly you did not do a good job of that, as of recently."

Link sighed and rested his elbows on the bar, rubbing the space between his eyes as he did so. The weight of his failure took that moment to hit him with full strength. His makeshift family—Cyprus, Saria, and the rest—suffered because of him. The responsibility bared down on his shoulders.

Cyprus? Dead.

Saria and the rest were at who-knows-where.

All because of him.

And there he was, standing around like some kind of asshole with his thumb up his backside, watching some fish-kid swim while his friends…

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." She broke his train of thought.

"Don't," he replied.

"Link…"

Her hand was on his shoulder. The urge to shrug her off was immense, and he was about to follow through when suddenly a scream pierced the air.

Immediately his attention snapped to the water in time to see Mai struggle against something pulling her down. Without thinking, a mental switch flipped and a prickle of hot chemicals seeped behind his eyes, intensifying his view. Beneath the surface of the water, he saw some kind of massive ship or funnel-like object.

"Mai!" Lady Raito gasped.

"Help _me!_" the girl screamed before being sucked under the surface.

Link didn't think. He just reacted.

The freezing water hit him harder than he anticipated. His muscles strained as he fought the current, trying desperately to reach Mai. But as sudden as the current appeared, it reversed, and he found himself sucked towards the thing at breakneck speed.

And then all was dark.

Again.


End file.
